You probably either asked the question, or someone has asked you this before. What is the best shoe for running? From what seems to be a simple answer is pretty complicated.
First and foremost, there is no such thing as the perfect shoe. There is not one magical shoe that will do everything including run for you. If there is I would own a pair, I’m still waiting for the running shoes with the built in Rockets on the side.
Joking aside, I will try to keep this as simple as possible. Before we can even pick a shoe, we need to find out what type of runner you are. The majority are in 1 of the 3 groups. Supination, Neutral, or Overpronator. All has to do the way your foot reacts while it is on the ground. The Runner you want to be is a Neutral Runner, there are ways to correct Supination, and Overpronation to make you Running gait Neutral. How do you know which category you’re in? Let’s discuss.
The best way is to have your running form analyzed by someone certified, or have a digital imprint of your feet to examine what type of shoe best fits you. However, I do not trust the way the digital system works. To truly find the proper shoe, you need to analyze the runner as a whole, not just their feet.
What to look for? I’ll start with the most familiar. Take your foot, dip it in water, then step on a dry surface like a paper towel to get a print of your foot. The general rule of thumb is the flatter the foot is, the more support you will need (I will go into more detail later).
The 2nd way is to look at the thread on the bottom of your running shoes. If the wear is on the medial side (picture below), you overpronate.
If you see more wear on the outside of the shoe, then you supernate.
Right down the middle means the show you currently are using is giving the correct support. The Same analogy goes for a car is to your body. If your vehicle was wearing out a tire on one side instead of an even wear, you know your alignment is off. The same goes for running shoes, not having the correct support will make you body alignment off, which will lead to injury.
Both of these techniques will give you a pretty good idea of what type of shoe is right for you. However, I feel these techniques are not 100% accurate, and running involves your whole body, not just your feet. Which is by having someone watch how you run I feel is the best way to determine what you need. If you can’t have someone look at you record foot strike while running on a treadmill, pay close attention to the position of your foot right before it pushes off, NOT at the point where your foot first touches the ground. You may be familiar with the term heel striker, and most people judge the way their foot strikes on the ground versus watching the position of the foot is before push off. You want to decide based on how your mid-foot strikes. **Before you do this test make sure you are using a shoe with NO SUPPORT. Testing with a shoe with support will give you inaccurate results.**
Look at the midfoot as it about to push off, use the picture to the right as an example. If your foot keeps straight, then you have a natural running gait. If your foot falls inside more making your foot push off at a slight angle (depending on how severe) you pronate.If your foot falls more to the outside, you foot then Supinates.
I cannot stress the importance of this. Not having the proper supportive running shoe will cause issues as your training progresses. It might now show it right away, but some problems can occur. If you suffer from any of the below, the first step I would do is to check to make sure you are using the proper shoe.
- Shin Splints
- Plantar Fasciitis
- Achilles tendonitis
- Anterior compartment syndrome
- Patello-femoral pain syndrome
- Tarsal tunnel syndrome
Now that you know what type of Runner you are, you can pick a shoe that works best for you. Next Blog post will be what shoe gives you the correct support, and what to look for.
-James iRunFitness